One More Night
by MrsFerretMalfoy
Summary: She had finally reached her breaking point, and yet he didn't understand, but would he ever? She doubt it, but she knew he was worth it. He had to be. Draco x Hermione. Post-Hogwarts.


Author's Note : Hello. This is a one-shot. It's not happy, after all it's placed in the angst genre. I hope you guys like it, it's not much, but yeah. Read on!

Summary : She had finally reached her breaking point, and yet he didn't understand, but would he ever? She doubt it, but she knew he was worth it. He had to be. Draco x Hermione. Post-Hogwarts.

Disclaimer : Obviously I do not own these wonderful characters. I wish I did, but we can't always get what we want now, can we? :)

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Hermione woke up at 9.00am every single day without failure. However, she had those days. Yes, 'those' days where she woke up with puffy red eyes, and dried snot on her face. Those days where she spent the night before crying and hugging her pillow tight. And then there was those days, the morning after, where she woke up, took her shower, put on some clean clothes, and collected the mail. Oooh, the mail. That was everyone's favourite part of the day. Getting the mail to read the latest gossip. Who married who, who's engaged to who, who just broke up. Well, things like that. For Hermione, she had that feeling of dread. She hated seeing the news on 'those' days. Why? Simple. She picked up the newspaper as usual, walked into the house, sat on her favourite chair and just stared at the front page of The Daily Prophet.

There on the cover page, was the infamous Draco Malfoy, with a voluptuous blonde on his arm. The next thing she saw was his dazzling smile, and he turned to kiss the blonde. Hermione's grip on the newspapers grew tight.

"You know, if you don't let go of that newspaper, it might just erupt into flames, sweetheart." Hermione looked up and glared at the person infront of her.

"Who the fuck invited you in?"

"Oooh, I love it when you're feisty, and a very good morning to you, too, love." He kissed her cheek and flopped onto the next seat beside her. He looked at the paper in her hands and sighed. He hated 'those' mornings. 'Those' mornings where he had to convince her that he loved her and he would never leave her, that it was all just an act.

"Why, isn't that exactly what you called, Rosalind last night." She said sarcastically. "Wouldn't want her to be angry with you for smelling like another woman when you get back later." She looked at The Daily Prophet and quoted Rosalind : "Why, Draco and I are very close. He would never come home smelling like another woman. He's faithful and loyal and just perfect." Draco rolled his eyes at the quote. Merlin, Rosalind always went over the top.

"Hermione, you know that I have to keep up with the charade. It's for my parents, and it's for the business." He put an arm around her and brought her close. He sniffed her hair, it smelled like vanilla. He loved vanilla. She sniffled. Oh yes, she did know, but she couldn't help but feel this way. She pulled away and got up.

"You know, I always listen to your pleas, your decisions, your opinions, your orders and what you tell me to do. When will you ever listen to mine? All I ask is for something simple, and that, you can't even give me. You give me everything else in the world. Things I don't need, to make up for that one thing." The witch who stood before him sighed in defeat. They've had this conversation, was it a conversation? No, this argument many times before. More so, in the past couple of months, and yet, he could not even give her what she wanted.

"Come on, Granger. You know we can't. You know I love you, right? Isn't that more than enough? All that matters is that you and I know, right?" Tears began to form at the back of her eyes, and he tried to pretend that he didn't see it. Merlin, he could feel her pain, but he didn't know what to do. He wasn't used to dealing with these kind of emotions. He was still learning and he couldn't keep up with her pace.

"You just don't understand, do you? It's not about that. It's how every time there's an event in the Wizarding World, I have to stand by the sidelines, and watch my fiancée, attend it with some other voluptuous, blonde airhead. I stand and watch him dance, laugh and flirt with them. When will I ever be that girl, Draco? I'm your fiancée." Hermione was frustrated. They were together for almost 2 years now, and yet, well, and yet, nobody knew, except the both of them. She wanted people to know. She wanted to tell her bestfriends. She wanted everyone to know that she belongs to him, and vice versa. The problem? He didn't want anyone to know.

"Is that it? Hermione, you know I won't attend these things with other females if you want? I could always go alone."

"Are you really that thickheaded? Malfoy, I don't want to hide this relationship any longer. I'm sick and tired of lying to everyone. Most of all, my bestfriends. I want them to know about us." She could feel it. She could sense that she was on the edge of a breaking point. Why was she the only one fighting for their relationship? Didn't he understand?

"Mione, you know I can give you everything else in the world. Everything, at your only command, anything but that. I just can't. I'm not ready yet." He said nervously.

"Is it because you're ashamed of marrying a mudblood, Draco. Is that why you-"

"Merlin no, Granger. Don't you ever call yourself that again." He grabbed her while cutting her off. "It's not about that. I don't know. I'm just not ready for the world to know about us yet. What if they try to break us up then?" Hermione pulled away from his grasp and stared back, angrily. Her eyes burning. Was this what it was always about?

"Draco, we've faced Voldemort. Anything is possible. If that happens, we fight back. We fight for this relationship, because we love each other. Any obstacle that we encounter, we fight through it, together." Draco shook his head, unsure. They had the perfect relationship, he didn't want anything or anyone to ruin it. He wasn't ready for Scarhead and Weaselbee to butt in. He was scared of losing her. He was scared of being second to her. He was so used to being her main priority.

"I don't know, Hermione. You need to give me time to think." Hermione huffed in response. Time? He wanted bloody time? She was sick and tired of being on the sidelines. She was sick of watching him with other girls, even though she knew that he was hers by the end of the day. She loved him, and she wanted everyone to see the amazing person she loves.

"I can give you anything but that, Draco." She challenged him back. Draco's head snapped up. Hermione had never challenged him like that before. They had always fought about this, but never to this extent.

"Please, Hermione. I can't. I just can't. My parents will-"

"Oh why yes, they'll disown you. How stupid of me to forget that. Of course your parents would never accept us. Of course you'd be to cowardly to face your parents about our relationship. Tell me, Draco. Am I always going to be kept a secret? When you marry me, will everyone know that we're married? Are you even going to 'marry' me, Draco?" She immediately caught the guilty look on his face, and that was enough for her. It was enough for her to break things off and move on. It was enough for her to remain a secret. Was it so hard for him to just reveal to the world how much they loved each other? Was money and fame so important, that without it he would suffer? Wasn't she enough for him? Wasn't she worth more than riches, and jewellery and stuff like that? Obviously not. Tears threatened to fall but she wiped them off. She was a bloody Gryffindor and she was going to live up to its name.

"Hermione, I'm sorry." She laughed. Really? Was that all he could say? He walked towards her and tried to reach out to her, but she stepped back.

"Get away from me, Malfoy." Draco stepped back, hurt from the use of his last name. She hadn't called him that in a long time. The way she said it, had so much hate and disgust.

"Oh, so now it's Malfoy. Just because you can't get your way. Merlin, Granger, you're so damn bossy and stubborn." This time it was Hermione's turn to feel the hurt. Oh, so he wanted to play that game now, didn't he?

"I'm sorry I'm not perfect like you, Malfoy. I forgot how prefect you actually are. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be here today. You're the only one keeping me sane. Oh and most importantly, I forgot, you only care about the family business. What did your family do again? Hmmn, other than trying to kill innocent people." She spat out. Draco was beyond furious.

"Take that back, you filthy mudblood." The seconds the words left his mouth, he knew he had made a big mistake. He saw the horrified look on her face, and he knew everything was over that instant. "Hermione, I'm-"

"Don't. Don't say it. I thought you were worth it, but apparently I was wrong." She shook her head and wiped a stray tear from her eye. "Goodbye, Draco." She looked up to see him one last time, and she smiled. A heartbreakingly sad smile and with tears in her eyes, she apparated.

"Hermione, wait!" But it was too late. She was gone, and he knew she was lost to him forever.

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Author's Note : And that is the end of it. I hope you guys liked it. I did warn you that it was sad. Please feel free to review. Tell me if you liked it, or hated it, or what I can do to improve my writing. Constructive criticism is always welcomed, as it helps me to improve. Thanks for reading once again! :)


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